Spezialeinheit IQ

T's a story about a squad of foot soldiers caught in the Battle of the Bulge. They are youngsters, thrown into the battle, trapped behind enemy lines in the freezing Ardennes, trying to survive. Some of them will.

It's a good place, I think to tell my family story about the Bulge. My uncle was a foot soldier in the battle. He was stuck in a fox hole with an Italian POW who agreed to fight with the American forces. A shell landed right on them, blowing my uncle out of the foxhole, ripping off all his clothes. When a jeep showed up, the driver wanted to leave my uncle's body, but the man he was in insisted he not be left behind. My uncle's corpse was strapped to the front of the jeep like a shot deer, taken back to field headquarters, and dumped in the tent with the other dead soldiers, and soon my grandparents get their 'deeply regret' telegram. Some time later, a doctor, walking through the tent, thought he saw my uncle breathing, and revived him from the hypothermia he was in. He spent a few years in a wheelchair, and eventually made a full recovery. He died about fifteen year ago.

Maybe it's that connection that makes this talky drama, shot in a freezing Utah winter, speak to me. Maybe it's the cast, including Peter Berg, Arye Gross, Kevin Dillon, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise (in his screen debut), and Frank Whaley. Maybe it's the sere, white cinematography of Tom Richmond. Whatever it is, it's a very worthwhile movie to watch on Memorial Day.

"A Midnight Clear" is a film that reminds me of the wonderful French film, "Joyeaux Noel". However, instead of being set during WWI, this American film is set just before the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. Both occur at Christmas time...and both involve a strange sort of cessation of hostilities.

The story is about a tiny reconnaissance group of American soldiers. They have the thankless task of scouting ahead of the rest of the army...and not surprisingly many in their small unit have already been killed. There are two main plots that result. First, they are discovered by a group of German soldiers who do not attack but instead wish to surrender. But, in order to prevent the SS back home from taking retribution against them for not fighting, they propose to make it look like they surrendered only after a horrible fire fight. Sadly, it does NOT go down as they'd planned. Second, after this, when the Major meets up with them, this commanding officer mostly screams at them and threatens them...and leaves them back at their forward base. When the German offensive begins, they're soon stuck behind enemy lines and they have to work hard to find their way back to the Allied lines.

Despite some similarities to "Joyeaux Noel", it is different enough and somber enough to be a different film viewing experience. For the most part, it's just the story of a few men trying to survive...and the thankless tasks they've been given. Well made and worth seeing.

It's a war film, but an atypical and sober one at that. Probably war drama fits better. As there's a whole lot more to it than just action. On that count it has its moments, but really it's about the characters (if something of a coming of age) and the realisation that their enemy is just as reluctant and afraid as them. The script is meditatively thoughtful and the performances by a capable cast (Ethan Hawke, Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg, Gary Sinise, Frank Whaley, Arye Gross and John C. McGinley's pig-headed Major Griffin) are genuinely layered. This helps draw you in, feeling the joy but also the tragic nature that waits. It absorbingly paints the foolishness of war, where in a serenely ironic manner it all pans out. It follows a small young American reconnaissance platoon nearing the end of WW2 in Eastern Europe, which was put together due to them having the highest I.Q. in the army. Thinking that they would get better results, however on their mission they come across a patrol of German soldiers hiding from their inevitable fate and a special, if strange bond is formed between the two parties. Written and directed by Keith Gordon (who I'll always remember him as Arnie Cunningham from John Carpenter's 80s horror flick "Christine"), he does an effective job tailoring the welcoming humanity and the painstaking horrors of war through the visuals, dialogues, atmospheric surroundings and performances. The narrative moves back and forth early on dealing with past events that brought these American soldiers together, before settling on the straight-and-narrow. The material is rather offbeat and mellow, especially when it came to the interactions between the two groups. What seems unfathomable, becomes reality and then even playful (snowball fights?!). There's something simply haunting and forlorn about this presentation and you could probably attributed it to the beautifully moody, if glassy music score. It just stays with you. Like the final shot of the film, where the camera pans onto Hawke's face of despair and this is one powerfully heartfelt moment. "A Midnight Clear" is quite low-key and unpredictable in all, but hard to forget.

"I'm through playing soldier."

Adapted from the novel by William Wharton , with interesting script by director Keith Gordon himself, providing an absorving and stylised rendition , while acting is uniformly over-the-top and exploring issues of faith and morality about US and German soldiers, as both sides are determined to survive . It takes place in the Ardennes Forest , near the French-German enemy-line border , in December 1944 . The end of WWII approaches and it's Christmastime when six of the remaining members of a 12-member squad are sent on a perilous mission , as they settle at an abandoned , deserted cabin in order to report on enemy movements, but short of rations decide to explore all around . The American Intelligence Squad locates a strange German platoon stalking here and there . The German foes remain elusive , and after making contact with these young , nervous young men , the enemy soldiers prove strangely unwilling to attack and wishing to surrender rather than die in Germany's final war offensive, but then things go wrong.

A thrilling wartime movie set in 1944 France, in the Ardennes forest region, at an isolated location with a handful of GIs and a band of of combat-weary Germans , displaying an intelligent story , emotion , solid storyline , enjoyable message and good feeling . A sensitive and thought-provoking movie in which a sense of anquish filtrates throughout the tale , moving inexorably towards spiritual reckoning and lethal confrontation . A worthwhile seeing psychological drama pits the message of peace against the stupidity of war . Packing a top-notch cast wiith full of future big stars and notorious secondaries , including as follows : Ethan Hawke , Gary Sinese , Kevin Dillon , Peter Berg , Frank Whaley , Ayrie Gross , John C. McGinley , David Jensen , Larry Joshua , Rachel Griffin who married director Keith Gordon , among others , all off them give nice interpretations .

Colorful cinematography by Tom Richmond , shot in a dreamy surreal style , as the setting is somewhat reminiscent of a fairytale . As well as moving and touching musical score by Mark Isham . This thoughtful motion picture was compellingly written/directd by Keith Gordon . He's a good actor and filmmaker. Appeared with Kevin Bacon in Off-Broadway theater when they were both starting out as actors. Standing out his characters in Brian De Palma's Home Movies , Back to School (1986) , John Carpenter's Christine , Charles Shyer's I Love Trouble . He quit acting to become a director. As he made the following ones : Mother Night (1996), Walking the dead , The singing detective , The chocolate war and several episodes of famous TV series as Nurse Jackie , The Leftovers , Dexter , The Returned , Masters of Sex , Strain , The Bridge , Homeland , Legion , Fargo , Better Call Saul , among others . Rating : 7/10. Above average. Well worth watching. Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII lovers.

In the beginning stages of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, a reconnaissance patrol is sent ahead in the Ardennes forest on the border of France and Germany where they encounter some German soldiers. Who will survive to celebrate Christmas?

"A Midnight Clear" (1992) is an obscure artistic WW2 movie focusing on a patrol in the wintery sylvan landscapes of the Battle of the Bulge. It's more realistic than the surreal "Castle Keep" (1969), but it reminds me a little of that arty flick.

While a couple of scenes could've been more convincingly executed and some elements of the story are unlikely or weird, it's almost an exact recounting of author William Wharton's actual experiences (he wrote the 1982 novel the script was based on). Director/scriptwriter Keith Gordon desperately wanted to plainly state "This is a true story" at the beginning, but the lawyers wouldn't allow it. As such, the supposed disclaimer during the end credits is vaguely worded for legal reasons.

Speaking of Keith, you may remember him as the protagonist in "Jaws 2" (1978) and, especially, "Christine" (1982).

In any case, I appreciated the wintery war ambiance in the woods with cast members from "Platoon" (Kevin Dillon and John C. McGinley), "Dead Poets Society" (Ethan Hawke) and "Forrest Gump" (Gary Sinise). I also liked the inventive approach, the music, and the depiction of this handful of young men united in a struggle of life and death. While the middle starts to get a little tedious and questionable there is a turning point and, from there, the film is quite compelling.

The film closes with a haunting rendition of "It Came upon a Midnight Clear" by Sam Phillips as the credits scroll. I felt moved and reflected.

The movie runs 1 hour, 48 minutes, and was shot in the Park City area of north-central Utah.

GRADE: B.